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| ISBN-13: | 9780822373803 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Duke University Press |
| Publication date: | 10/13/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 216 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
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Waves of Knowing
A Seascape Epistemology
By Karin Amimoto Ingersoll
Duke University Press
Copyright © 2016 Duke University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8223-7380-3
CHAPTER 1
HE'E NALU Reclaiming Ke Kai
Sliding into Remembrance
Afloat in the same nutrient-rich water that has been circulating on Earth, in various forms, for three billion years (Farber 1994), Kanaka surfers tap into the wisdom of how waves move. Na Nalu(waves) have arms, fingers, and legs — many legs — a face, a back, and lips. Waves move with a gut pushed by forces from the universe: the moon's currents, the sun's reflecting rays, the pull of gravity, and rotation of the earth. Yet each wave finds individual expression, leaping off reefs and crumbling, its lips wet with white saliva. Na Nalu move in general rhythms with improvised expressions of life, blurring some lines and shapes, and coloring in others, like textured tapestries across the globe. Kanaka Maoli have named, studied, ridden, lived off, and lived with nalu for centuries. This oceanic literacy of he'e nalu enables Kanaka surfers to harness (and sometimes perish to) the power of waves, strengthening their profound ontological connection to the larger sea.
The indigenous Hawaiian oceanic literacy of he'e nalu, however, now sits within a new struggle over geography in Hawai'i, which, as Edward Said explains, "is not only about soldiers and cannons, but also about ideas, about forms, about images, and imaginings" (Said 1993, 7). He'e nalu, which has always been an act of performance, establishing and confirming Kanaka social and political order, has in part washed up onto the rocks of a foreign system of control. Ocean "territory" and access to resources within ke kai are the new battlegrounds of surf colonization, a geographic and economic colonization that impairs land and ocean literacy, and access to, relationships with, and an ability to malama i ka 'aina (care for the land).
As many as 7.4 million visitors descend upon Hawai'i each year, 51 percent of whom flood O'ahu's North Shore in search of the "Hawaiian surfing experience." During the winter months, the North Shore coastline population of eighteen thousand triples. During summer months, large sets of these tourists roll into the South Shore (and increasingly the West and East Shores), all on the hunt for the ideal surf adventure. This growing vogue (which began in the 1920s when Duke Kahanamoku and the rest of the Waikiki Beachboys formally introduced surfing to the world) has evolved into a Western neocolonial presence in Hawai'i, as the contemporary surf tourism industry approaches the Kanaka Maoli seascape as a landscape to be conquered and reaped for entertainment, escape, and profit.
The surf tourism industry is an institution physically swelling in popularity and economic opportunity, having exploded in the last thirty years into a multibillion-dollar niche market that incorporates lucrative vacation packages, instruction camps and tours, equipment sales, mass media, advertisements, and real estate opportunities. Hawai'i has unanimously been designated as the pleasure zone for this market. The surf narrative dictates that any hardcore surfer or surf enthusiast must experience the ideal and challenging waves of Hawai'i, and the tourism narrative adds that it can all be done in the beautifully temperate waters of this native, yet safe and accessible, paradise. Together, the surf and tourism industries have created the surf tourism craze. A popular online surf website, Surfline.com, proclaims, "Oahu is a place most surfers will want to visit at least once. ... it's Ground Central for the modern day sport of wave-riding — birthplace of Duke Kahanamoku, tester of champions, and site of what still ranks as the most high-impact stretch of surfing coast on this earth." For Hawai'i, such a designation means expanded coastal highways, traffic, pollution, the over withdrawal of water supplies, and the proliferation of oceanfront hotels, private homes, restaurants, surf shops, surf schools, and tours in an overcrowded and polluted ocean.
How can he'e nalu, an indigenous activity rich in political, social, and spiritual significance for Kanaka Maoli, become a neocolonial presence in Hawai'i? It is my argument that surf tourism has transformed surfing, within the tourism industry, into an international "sport" and capitalistic enterprise prided on discovering, conquering, and experiencing a Western-contrived surf utopia. Surfers have evolved into a breed that overwhelmingly overlooks a conscious awareness of their impacts on the people, oceans, and lands encountered on their surf itineraries. In speaking about the explosion of the adventure-oriented tourists, surf journalist Steve Barilotti quotes anthropologist John McCarthy, "Ironically, these refugees from modernity carry their disease [of escapism] with them" (Barilotti 2002, 92). This is true of surf tourists engaging in an industry that draws upon the sport of surfing but roots itself more deeply in the larger narrative of escape and paradise. The industry has brilliantly tapped into people's natural desire for a lost Eden by leaning on a social, political, and spiritual Hawaiian activity and transforming it into a sporting mission to demand an experience of the exotic, the "frontier," and the authentic.
The "remote" Hawaiian waves advertised by the industry have become legend in the surfer psyche, and every surfer is encouraged to dream of traveling to these idyllic waves to become a member of the prided surf clique and fulfill the designated surf fairytale. As more and more surf tourists drop into Hawaiian waves, ke kai becomes prone to this neocolonial fantasy of dominating waves and taking what severs them from the 'aina. Underscored are the colonial lines etched into the Hawaiian Islands by the Euro-American ideology and geopolitical structure of sovereignty, prioritizing an organization of place around the strong military and capitalist presence in Hawai'i: airstrips across the reef, warships strategically placed along the coast, paved walkways, mass construction of beachfront hotels and shops, private hotel beach zoning, and surf lessons. Surf tourism promotes a static approach to place that cuts and divides ka 'aina for ease of tourist use. Forgotten in this ideology is the body's relationship to place, human memories stored over centuries in the reef and along the coast, memories that act as adherent forces bringing together people and places, arranging these historical memories into contemporary contexts.
The sea itself, however, is the focal point of colonization by the surf tourism industry that ideologically establishes ke kai as a place of conquest and domination. The ocean has become a place of encounter and contrast in which the Kanaka Maoli experience of place conflicts with Hawai'i's experience as a tourist commodity. Said has termed colonization as the loss of locality to the outsider. The oceanic literacy of he'e nalu, however, helps Kanaka recover what has been lost. The process of decolonization or of postcolonial development and politics becomes a (re)establishment of indigenous geographical identity, which is not an "authentic" reality in need of uncovering (such an assumption would support the tourist narratives of an exotic and primitive native and her land), but a (re)vitalizing of indigenous geographic identity through knowledges of and relationships with place.
He'e nalu becomes an oceanic literacy for Kanaka that involves a process of (re)creation through both historical memories of, and modern engagements with, the seascape. He'e nalu is the cultural enactment that connects the history of Hawai'i: Kanaka ancestors surfed the waves of the open ocean from Kahiki, riding Ka nalu to the shores of Hawai'i. Every voyage, long or short, culminates with surfing. As an oceanic literacy, he'e nalu, whether on a surfboard, in a wa'a, with the body, or theoretically in the mind, connects Kanaka 'Oiwi, both physically and conceptually, to seascape epistemology. He'e nalu is an enactment that engages a profoundly nonlinear conception of the environment and of human relationships to it, privileging embodied connections that help to realize multiple and complex constructions of a multisited identity that resonates within the "language" of he'e nalu.
This language of surfing that speaks to the potential within he'e nalu begins with the word itself. He'e nalu (to ride a surfboard, surfing, surf rider, and, literally, "wave sliding") is a word rich with kaona (inner meaning), illuminating its profound potential within a Kanaka epistemology. Kanaka waterman and navigator, Bruce Blankenfeld, explains, "Hawaiians are masters at using proverbs and poetic types of things and talking in kaona, you know, not direct. The essence of that is that there's a deeper meaning into what they're saying, there's a hidden meaning, and that's what you have to find" (Blankenfeld 2008). For instance, Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert's Hawaiian Dictionary defines he'e as
1. n. Octopus (Polypus sp.), commonly known as squid. He'e mahola, octopus given for sickness caused by sorcery, as octopus (he'e) would cause the sickness to flee (he'e) or spread out (mahola). (PPN feke.)
2. vi. To slide, surf, slip, flee (Kin. 14.10). Cf. he'e nalu, puhe'e. See ex., pu'e one. 'O ka mea i hilina'i aku ia ia, 'a'ole ia e he'e (Isa. 28.16), he that believed did not make haste. ho'o.he'e, to cause to slip, slide, flee; to put to flight, rout. Ho'ohe'e ki, ti leaf sliding. (PPN seke.)
3. vi. To melt, flow, drip, soften; to skim, as milk. Cf. he'ehe'e, hehe'e.
4. vi. To hang down, as fruit; to sag; to bear breadfruit. See ex., ule. Laho he'e, hernia rupture. (Probably PNP seke.)
5. n. Line that supports the mast, stay.
Nalu is defined as
1. nvi. Wave, surf; full of waves; to form waves; wavy, as wood grain. Ke nalu nei ka moana, the ocean is full of waves. ho'o.nalu, to form waves. (PPN ngalu).
2. vt. To ponder, meditate, reflect, mull over, speculate. Cf. Eset. 6.6. Nalu wale ihola no 'o Keawenui-a-'Umi i ka hope o keia keiki (For. 4:261), Keawenui-a-'Umi pondered about the fate of this child. (PPN na(a)nunga).
3. n. Amnion, amniotic fluid. (PPN, PCP lanu)
As I noted in the introduction, he'e can mean "to slide," and nalu, which can mean "to ponder," informs how he'e nalu is an act of sliding into a ponderous state of thinking and theorizing about the world through a Hawaiian context. He'e also means "to put to flight," and nalu also means "to form waves"; he'e nalu is also the act of putting to flight the formation of waves. He'e nalu is not merely sliding across waves, or into a ponderous state, it is an act that helps the seascape to move, putting waves (concepts, spirituality, bodies) into flight.
Sydney Iaukea, a Kanaka surfer and PhD, shares her thoughts on he'e nalu: "When I think about the word, it makes me reflect on all the sites dedicated to surfing — especially on the Big Island — and the importance that surfing must have held, not only for the physical act itself but for the entire being, for reflection (another meaning of nalu). So surfing transcends the physical act and is important for mental well-being" (Iaukea 2008).
Hina Kneubuhl, former instructor of 'Olelo Hawai'i at the University of Hawai'i, offers her interpretation of he'e nalu: "I believe that it might be a metaphor for making love. I know that canoe paddling definitely is ('Olelo No'eau has some good sayings about that), and surfing is similar. ... I think it is safe to say that it was a common practice among chiefs and a great way to impress someone back in the day ... flexing their skills in hopes of gaining the attention of someone else" (Kneubuhl 2008).
He'e nalu becomes a powerful "language" for Kanaka Maoli within this epistemological capacity, and it also offers a specific ontological potential for (re)connection between Kanaka Maoli and ke kai. To address this connection, which is distinct from the connection between non–Kanaka Maoli and the ocean, I present the narratives of two surfers who have both embraced the ocean-based knowledge, or "oceanic literacy," of surfing as accomplished and lifelong "ocean people." Due to their individual genealogical and cultural contexts, however, these two surfers have distinct ontological and epistemological experiences in and representations of the sea. The two narratives will help to articulate why a Kanaka way of knowing is distinctly "Hawaiian," and thus how it offers Kanaka Maoli political empowerment. This is not an effort to reenforce or create binaries between "native" and "nonnative." As I address in this work, identities are complex and overlapping. Instead, the aim of this work is to distinguish the ontological connection, and thus epistemological differentiation, that makes seascape epistemology a specifically Kanaka epistemology.
The first surfer is Samantha, a fourth-generation American Irish and German woman who grew up surfing the surf breaks down the street from her house and is well respected in the lineups among the most ruthless and aggressive local surfers. While she has proven herself as a big-wave surfer, is sponsored by top surf companies, and travels around the world to experience a variety of waves that have boosted and broadened her ocean-based knowledge, her connection to the ocean was acquired through a specific experience and learned literacy situated in a specifically American historical context. Samantha has mastered the literacy of surfing; she knows how to read the waves, the shifting sand formations, and the circulating winds, and can navigate flowing kelp beds. She has a very keen intuition of the ocean's moods, and has incorporated the act of surfing into her sense of spirituality. For her, surfing forms her identity as defined by her career, her form of economic survival, her social structures, spirituality, and means of physical exercise. Like all American surfers, Samantha sees surfing as a "way of life." Surfing is an act of profound significance with great potential for Samantha, as it helps her develop an intimate relationship with the ocean and shapes the ongoing development of her identity through her specific culture.
The second surfer is Kula, a Kanaka Maoli woman born and raised on O'ahu. For Kula, he'e nalu impacts the evolution of her identity in the same way that it does for Samantha, but as a Kanaka Maoli, Kula is situated within a distinct historical and cultural context. Her ontology is shaped by the coral in the ocean, and her sense of being is connected to this time and space. This alters Kula's relationship to ke kai; she knows the significance ka moana plays in the construction of her Hawaiian identity. She is born from the seabed. Ke kai is where she came from; it is a part of her genealogy. The significance of the shifts in location, culture, and historical identity mean that when Kanaka embrace seascape epistemology from this place of embodied and psychological connection to the sea, the relationship is unique to them. Samantha, despite her profound relationship to the sea, does not have this ontological connection. Samantha's historical and ancestral perspective of the ocean is from a place of Otherness, as separate from the self.
Furthermore, the colonial legacy in Hawai'i posits a disparate context in which oceanic literacy and seascape epistemology is applied by Kula because of how this literacy and epistemology are interpreted and used for decolonization. Kula's historical and cultural experience of colonization requires a recreation, and he'e nalu is one way Kula can rebuild and reestablish ways of knowing and being that have been effaced. The enactment of he'e nalu is one way contemporary Kanaka Maoli such as Kula can reaffirm an autonomous identity within a neocolonial reality. He'e nalu, when applied through seascape epistemology, can be interpreted and used for a specific political and ethical movement for Kula.
The oceanic literacy of surfing can be embraced by both Samantha and Kula, as can seascape epistemology. What makes both oceanic literacy and seascape epistemology "Hawaiian" when applied by Kula, and by all Kanaka, is the historical and cultural context found in the common Kanaka language. The "language" of which I speak is the language of the common Kanaka history and the common cultural context found in the genealogies of our mo'olelo and mele, our oral history. This language determines a Kanaka ontological connection to the sea and provides the framework for a specifically Kanaka epistemology. It is a language specific to Kanaka Maoli because it is our history and genealogy. All Kanaka, even without physical access to or experience with the ocean, can still embrace the philosophical potential of an epistemology based in this ocean knowledge because all Kanaka share the "language." On the contrary, non-Kanaka who are oceanic literate, such as Samantha is in surfing, do not obtain the same epistemology because they do not have the language: the genealogy of history, the ontological connection that arises from this history, or the historical context of being on the receiving end of a colonial legacy, all of which offer Kanaka 'Oiwi a particular potential for political empowerment. The applied knowledge is available to both Samantha and Kula, but the theoretical significance and consequence of the epistemology, as I use it, is Kanaka because it is based in a language that is specifically Hawaiian. This epistemology is critical to develop today because of the significant colonial legacy that Hawaiian knowledge, language, and 'aina has and continues to have.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Waves of Knowing by Karin Amimoto Ingersoll. Copyright © 2016 Duke University Press. Excerpted by permission of Duke University Press.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ixIntroduction 1
1. He'e Nalu: Reclaiming Ke Kai 41
2. Oceanic Literacy: A Politics and an Ethics 79
3. Seascape Epistemology: Ke Kino and Movement 103
4. Ho'okele: Seascape Epistemology as an Embodied Voyage 127
5. Hālau O Ke Kai: Potential Applications of Seascape Epitemology 155
Epilogue 183
Notes 185
References 189
Index 197
What People are Saying About This
"A risk-taking and vividly written work, Waves of Knowing helps destabilize reigning land-centered frameworks of contemporary place-making and, all the more so, puts the Hawaiian oceanic sensibility back where it culturally and politically belongs. With flair, range, and commitment, Karin Amimoto Ingersoll shows ocean and land to be one interactive Hawaiian continuum of embodied place-making. Waves of Knowing offers an important, timely, and conjunctive intervention into Hawaiian studies, oceanic studies, and decolonizing indigenous scholarship."
"Karin Amimoto Ingersoll presents her readers with a manifesto calling for a relocation of self through the sea as an affective and embodied tradition for a resurgence of indigenous Hawaiian epistemologies. By focusing on the seascape as an epistemological and ontological site that reconfigures bodies in relation to land, community, and relations, Ingersoll powerfully articulates a mode of being that counters the devastating effects of colonialism."